Reaching More Readers: Book Review Blogs

Following up on my first post on this topic, I’d like to take a moment to focus on method #2 for ways to try to reach more readers: Submit Your Book to Book Review Blogs. I have to admit that I have been sucked into the world of book blogs.

Through the Writer’s Cafe, a group I belong to on LinkedIn, I discovered Book Blogs, a site where authors, reviewers, and bloggers can all mix and mingle. I will admit to being very overwhelmed by this site initially. Within half a day of my joining I had about 15 welcome messages from other members, and I continue to receive about four or five new messages a day. That said, one week in, I am finding this site to be worth the effort.

As a newbie I like the premise. Much like Twitter, there seems to be a “follow back” methodology to this site which makes it feel very comfortable when it comes to interacting with people you don’t know.

As a reader I’m LOVING the blogs that I’ve decided to follow. It’s opened up an entire new universe of books to me that I may otherwise not have found. I already have a backlog of about 10 new books purchased and just waiting to be read!

As an author joining this site has simplified the process of finding book reviewers to submit requests to. Each reviewer has different ways they prefer to have review requests come to them, and most make it very clear and easy to do.

As a blogger the follow-back methodology is helping me to gather more followers for this blog. In theory, more followers should lead to book reviews and eventually to more readers.

As a working mom with 2 toddlers who is also getting an MBA degree and writing my next book I will admit that I continue to feel overwhelmed by the sheer numbers in this community (and this is just one of several similar communities I’ve found). I am feeling my way through requesting reviews, responding to messages, and figuring out other concepts like guest blogging and blog tours. However, as with every new tool I’ve tried during this self-publishing journey, I expect things to slow down and settle into a pattern I can sustain.

So far I am finding this site to be a good resource and networking opportunity. The effectiveness of this method for getting book reviews and reaching more readers is yet to be determined. Stay tuned!